02future looks bright for cal

since first coaching the california men’s golf team in
1979, steve desimone has followed a golden (bear)
rule: don’t worry if others underestimate your team’s
talent. surprising your foes can be rewarding, à la
the 2004 ncaa championship when desimone’s
charges “came from nowhere” to win. too bad for
coach des, this strategy isn’t going to fly when the
2012-13 college season begins. too many people
watched last week’s u.s. amateur not to notice how
it seemingly turned into a berkeley intrasquad practice. five bears—michael weaver (shown), brandon
hagy, max homa, michael kim and walter huddy—
competed at cherry hills, all but huddy advancing
to match play. weaver and hagy nearly became the
first college teammates to face off in a usga final,
hagy falling in the semifinals to steven fox before
weaver lost to him in the sunday final. “i heard hagy
describe it best,” desimone said. “there aren’t any
real stars on our team, but they all have the ability to
step up and play really well.” everybody returns from
the 2011-12 squad that won six times, including the
pac- 12 title, and reached the ncaa semifinals, plus
the u.s. amateur runner-up is back after redshirting
last year to be able to enroll in cal’s business school.
bottom line: there will be no going under the radar
for desimone in the near future. —R.H.